Video: Bone Marrow Transplantation

Runtime

06:00

Sergio Giralt, Chief of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation Service, talks about bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of certain cancers, such as leukemia. First, high doses of radiation and/or chemotherapy are used to destroy abnormal bone marrow. Healthy bone marrow – from a donor whose tissue matches that of the patient, from the patient, or from umbilical cord blood – is then given via intravenous infusion. Researchers are working to identify genes that can indicate patients who will most benefit from the procedure.